The show has played, the dances have been danced, the songs sung, the stage lit and the stories told. The birds have performed their debut show Sincerely Yours and have found an identity as a collective.

Pearson (2014)

On the day of the show the technical issues were resolved by the Tec Team and Birds came together to produce a show that was heart warming and exciting.

The audience of 149 embraced the warm and sincere nature of the company and the feedback has been appreciative. The Birds have achieved the creation of ‘REAL theatre. Honest theatre. Truthful theatre’ (Birds Eye View, 2014) and along the way, put essence of themselves into the company’s foundations.

The show maybe over but the Producer’s job has not yet finished. As the end of an era dawns the final strings need to be collected and tied off. The finances have to be sorted and put to bed as, although this may not be the last of Birds Eye View Theatre, for now the Birds are taking a break.

Throughout this process there has been an array of ups, downs and difficulties that as a group we have overcome. We entered this process as single undergraduate students yet have emerged as a collective of women who are part of, what could be a professional theatre company. We have produced theatre that has entertained, taught and touched our audience.

The future of Birds Eye View Theatre is one that holds many possibilities. Although the Birds are flying the nest, Sincerely Yours has a national appeal for the next 4 years and 2018 marks the centenary of the end of World War 1 and women’s right to vote. The possibilities are endless so keep you eyes peeled.

Our performance has a homemade feel to it and, due to the nature of the content, it feels very personal and quaint. We want to extend this beyond the performance and to our audience in the lead up to the show, as well as the shows aftermath. After all, it is the centenary year of World War One.

During our research stages we spoke to many people who have influenced the show as we give their stories a voice. To say thank you to these people and to show how much we appreciate them sharing their stories with us, I will be sending them a home-made invitation/thank-you card.

Golby (2014) Home-made Cards

I hope that these small gestures will show how much we value these stories and the people who they belong to. As a company we must ensure that we stay true to them and do them justice when they are transformed for the stage.

They say money makes the world go around and, as the producer, it is my job to keep on top of the company’s finances and I do this by keeping detailed sheets of where all the money is being spent.

Golby (2014) Spread Sheets and Receipts.

At the start of the process I made a preliminary budget sheet which gave each section of our expenditure, a budget. You can see this here. Now, as we are well in to the project and are coming in to the final month, it is vital that I keep an eye on how much we are spending and where it is being spent. This is to ensure we do not go over our budget of £266.66. You can see how we have currently spent our money here.

You will be able to see that we have currently underspent on Marketing and Audience Development, Technical Support and Disposables, yet have over spent by £12 on Artistic Spending. The under and over expenditure have levelled themselves out and, as long as I continue to keep an eye on the budget, I believe we will spend our budget to the penny, or even underspend.

Within professional theatre the role of producer is unclear and there are many variations (Seabright, 2010, p.5). My role, as Producer and Production Manager of Birds Eye View Theatre, is one of organisation, responsibility, problem solving, finance and co-ordination. Within the company I am the go to girl regarding the technical, financial, artistic and marketing aspects of our current project, Sincerely Yours. In the words of James Seabright, I am a ‘do-it-all’ producer. (2010, p.5) and my job is to ensure the smooth running of the company. I could only do this with the help of my handy folder of wisdom…

As a company we have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak to working practitioners within the industry. We have been able to ask them about their companies and experiences in building a company and making art. As a new company this has been very helpful as we have learnt what to do and, in some cases, how to steer away from problematic issues.

Still House (2014) online

Dan Canham from Still House came to speak to us about the process and production of Ours Was The Fen Country . The production focused on verbatim text and he discussed his process of gathering the interviews and sifting through hours of dialogue to pick out the most interesting points. our experience will be very similar to his as we will be interviewing a wide rage of people about their stories of World War 1. Still House’s production was more than just verbatim text and one aspect of creating our show that concerned me was getting from spoken word to a performative state. Canham’s advice was to play and to avoid worrying about the final outcome of the show. ‘It will happen’ he told us. Continue reading →